pooja tanawala 48 intern at mint ahmedabad

7/28/2019 Pooja Tanawala 48 Intern at Mint Ahmedabad

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A study to measure the brand awareness and perception of people of Ahmedabad

towards Mint Newspaper.

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION

1.1 - INTRODUCTION TO PRINT MEDIA

History of print media and written communication follows the progress of civilization

which, in turn, moves in response to changing cultural technologies. The transfer of

complex information, ideas and concepts from one individual to another, or to a group,

underwent extreme evolution since prehistoric times. It has been 30,000 years later since

the first recorded evidence of written communication and it is still dramatically changing.

Technical breakthroughs alter the way we perceive the universe and manner in which we

communicate with one another.

As long ago as 25,000-30,000 years B.C. first humans painted descriptive pictures on

cave walls. The narrative compositions left on the walls of Lascaux represented their own

way of communicating with the spiritual world and another. The well-preserved drawing

depicted their deep religious beliefs, fears, and everyday life. The pictorial type found in

caves of Southern France and Spain is the beginning of written communication for the

human kind.

In early 19th century the industrial revolution brought major innovations in printing

technology. In 1810, Friedrich Koenig applied steam power to printing press. Rotary

steam presses replaced hand operated machines, doing the same job in a small fraction of

the time.

The age of industrial revolution made transfer and interchange of written information

between cities as well as continents readily available. In 1831 Joseph Henry invented the

first electric telegraph, four years later in 1835 Samuel Morse formulated Morse code, and

then in 1843 he also produced the first long distance electric telegraph line. In 1867

Thomas Edison patented his mimeograph, which was the first office-copying machine,which might inspire Chester Carlson, almost a century later; to invent the photocopier

machine.

DHARMSINH DESAI UNIVERSITY, NADIAD.

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Now a day, the print industry goes through a dry spell. Printing becomes increasingly

more expansive. To combat with this problem the industry increased use of digital printers

that can efficiently produce high quality paper books on demand. CAP Ventures predicted

that within five years, 80% of all print will be ordered via www. This created new model

of publishing- so called e-publishing (on demand). The printed book is currently under

attack by e-book. Present e-books are handheld devices in which books can be

downloaded in a file form and read on a backlit screen using buttons to maneuver through

text. There have been also experiments with on-line book distribution by Stephan King,

David Saperstein, Mary Higgins and others authors.

The key reasons behind the growth are technological advances, positive government

initiatives in terms of policy and foreign investment, and energized initiatives by private

media companies coupled with rising income levels and Indias robust economic growth-

led consumerism.

The Television industry is projected to grow 22% CAGR from Rs 19,100 crore to Rs

51,900 crore by 2011. The move towards CAS/DTH is considered the major driver for this

growth with subscription revenues set to take the segment to the projected heights. The

buoyancy of the Indian economy will drive the homes, both in rural and urban (second TV

set homes) areas to buy televisions and subscribe for the pay services, the report said.

The major reason for this high growth rate is that the industry is increasingly getting more

corporative, highlighted by public issues of several film production, distribution and

exhibition companies, long term contracts between film production companies and

directors/ actors and the fact that more than half of 2006s releases were by corporate

rather than individual banners.

Print media is also the favorite segment for global investors with maximum foreign

investment in this segment. The print media industry has much potential as 36.9 crore

literate people in India are still not tapped by any publication


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1.2 - NEWS PAPERS: A BRIEF HISTORY

The newspaper as we know it today is a product borne of necessity, invention, the middle

class, democracy, free enterprise, and professional standards. Pre-history "newspapers"

were one-to-one in nature. The earliest variation on a newspaper was a daily sheet

published in 59 BC in Rome called Acta Diurna (Daily Events), which Julius Caesar

ordered posted throughout the city. The earliest known printed newspaper was in Beijing

in 748.

In 1451, Johannes Gtenberg uses a press to print an old German poem, and two years

later prints a 42-line Bible - the significance being the mass production of print products,

ushering in an era of newspapers, magazines, and books. By 1500, the genesis of a postal

system can be seen in France, while book publishing becomes popular throughout Europeand the first paper mill can be found (England).

The 1700s was a century in which market elements were created that encouraged the

development of daily newspapers: rising literacy, the formation of nation-states, a

developing postal system, and the proliferation of urban centers, a rising literary and

philosophical tradition emphasizing democratic involvement in government, and

technologies that supported newspaper production. In short, it was a great news century.

The first daily newspaper was The Daily Courant in London, 1702. In 1754, The Daily

Advertiser in London uses the first four-column format. France's first daily newspaper

appears in 1777, Journal de Paris, while the first United States daily was the Pennsylvania

Packet in 1784.

The rise of the middle class transformed newspapers in the 1800s. A penny (US$0.01)

buys a New York newspaper in 1833, opening up the first mass market for newspapers. In

1847, the telegraph is used as a business tool, transforming far-away stories. In 1873, an

illustrated daily newspaper can be seen in New York. In 1878 the first full-page

newspaper advertisements appear, and in 1880 the first photographs are seen in

newspapers, using halftones.

With the basic technical groundwork for the modern newspaper in place by the late 19th

century, the story of newspapers in the 20th century was about professional development

and adaptation to changing consumer and media markets.


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By 2000, newspapers were juggling priorities: fragmentation of news consumption,

fragmentation of advertising investments, the advantages and disadvantages of being a

mass medium, balancing the wants of the marketplace with the company's duty to provide

the needs of the marketplace, a journalistic backlash against industry changes, the sheer

physicality of ink-on-paper production and distribution versus digital distribution,

increasing profit pressure surrounding the core print product, and extension of the

company's core brand into other profit centers.

1.3 - HISTORY OF HINDUSTAN TIMES

Hindustan Times

Head Office

Hindustan Times House

18 - 20, K G Marge

New Delhi - 110001, India

Tel : +91 11 23361234

Fax : +91 11 23704600

HT Media found its beginning in 1924 when its flagship newspaper, Hindustan Times was

inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi.


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HT Media (BSE, NSE) has today grown to become one of India's largest media

companies. Produced by an editorial team known for its quality, innovation and integrity,

Hindustan Times (English newspaper) and Hindustan (Hindi newspaper through a

subsidiary Hindustan Media Ventures Limited), have a combined daily readership base of

12.7 million (based on round 2 of Indian Readership Survey 2009) to their credit. HT

Media operates 19 printing facilities across India with an installed capacity of 1.5 million

copies per hour.

HT Media has also made its foray into electronic media. Diversifying its ambit of

operations, the company in a consulting partnership with Virgin Radio, has launched the

FM radio channel - Fever 104. Currently available in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and

Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore at No. 1 and in Delhi as the No. 2 station on the

popularity charts.

Hindustan Times, Delhi, is Indias largest single-edition daily. Riding on the phenomenal

success of the newspaper in Delhi, Hindustan Times made a successful entry into the

commercial capital of India Mumbai, in July 2005.

The group's news portal HindustanTimes.com, with over 2 million unique visitors and 100

million page views per month, is one of the largest news portals in the country. It has

consistently been ranked amongst the top 10 news sites in the world by Forbes and offers

in-depth coverage and analysis to its users.

The business news website, www.Livemint.com, covers business and related news in

India as well as across the world. Livemint.com is the integrated offering with Mint.

Livemint.com combines the editorial strength of Mint with a best-in-class web interface

and a selection of online tools that aid the users to stay on top of the developments in the

business world as well as help them with investments.

The group has recently started new business - "Strategic Partnerships" - dedicated to cater

to the advertising needs of growth companies by providing them a cashless form of

advertising and building up their brands thereby enhancing the value of the business. This

division identifies growth companies and enters into strategic partnerships with them.


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The overall objective is to create a strategic platform wherein different companies can

come together and benefit with the synergies of partnering with each other. The group has

also been highly active in programs with school children through PACE (Partnerships for

Action in Education) HT-PACE- a trusted partner of schools, continuously endeavors to

add value to education and a new dimension to classroom teaching. A front-runner of all

NIE initiatives of the country, PACE has made the newspaper an integral part of a childs

curriculum, bringing about significant value addition in and around the editorial product.

The events and marketing solutions have been working with new innovative thought ideas

to help businesses reach their target users. This has been done successfully using several

events and seminars like Mint Luxury Summit, Delhi Shopping Festival, and Miss

Worldwide India etc.

1.4 - JOURNEY- HINDUSTAN TIMES

September 26, 1924

This date marked the august beginnings of Hindustan Times with Mahatma Gandhi, the

Father of the Nation inaugurating the newspaper.

1927

Hindustan Times was reborn as Hindustan Times Ltd., a limited liability company.1936

The Hindi daily Hindustan was launched, which remains the dominant newspaper in the

core Hindi belt of northern India.

1937

Devdas Gandhi was appointed the Managing Editor of the newspaper and remained the

managing editor till his death in 1957.

1942

The Hindustan Times was one of the few newspapers that stopped publishing the

newspaper for four and a half months as it refused to accept the British imposition of

censorship on all newspapers.


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1947

The year India gained its freedom was also the year Hindustan Times attained the status of

being the dominant newspaper in Delhi.

1957

The newspaper circulation grew from 58,693 copies to 144,287 in 1970 after KK Birla

took over the mantle from GD Birla.

1960

The Hindi literary magazine Kadambini was launched.

1964

The group started actively targeting the youth of India and launched the Nandan magazine.

1991

At the start of liberalization of India, Hindustan Times moved to becoming an autonomous

power center in a mature democracy.

1999

The Hindustan Times celebrated its platinum anniversary.

2000

With a focus on localization, five new editions for Calcutta, Bhopal, Ranchi, Chandigarh

and Jaipur were launched.

2003

The media business of was de-merged and incorporated under HT Media Ltd.

2004

HT Media Ltd was listed as a public company and attracted external funding.

2007

HT Media Ltd has launched one financial newspaper called MINT in 8 major cities of

country and recently before 1 year in Ahmedabad.

1.5 - VISION


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To stand at a respectful position in this competitive marathon and also to keep up

the pace of the changing needs of their value readers.

To win more and more readers to their cause.


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Courage

To encourage the ability that meets opposition with skill, competence and fortitude.

Responsibility

Be accountable for results in line with the companys objectives, strategies and values.

Empowerment

Support our people and give them the freedom to perform and to provide our readers with

information to influence their environment.

Continuous Self Renewal

Determination to constantly re-examine and re-invent ourselves for further innovation and

creativity.

People Centric

People are our greatest asset. We invest in them expect a lot and know that the rest will

follow

Values

HT Media A rich heritage to live up to! Organizational values are the foundation stones

on which the organizations image is built. These help the company realize its

organizational goals and in turn transform lives. These values are intended to infuse an

infectious energy, professionalism and a sense of true empowerment to the workplace.


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1.6 - MISSION

The mission is to create space for the market share of MINT by tapping the

uncovered market and by taking bites from competitors market share.

Getting the benefits of the paper to be known to the market.

1.7 - BUSINESS ETHICS

MINT is neutral and one of the most credible financial newspapers.

MINT is disciplined in terms of collecting, analyzing, verifying, and presenting

information regarding current events, trends, issues and people.


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1.8 - ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY

Shobhna Bhatia

Chairperson

Mrs. Shobhana Bhartia, who has been associated with the company since its inception,

has taken over as the Chairperson on September 18, 2008. She has spearheaded the

company's long-term vision and strategy. Mrs. Bhartia is in charge of formulating and

directing the editorial policies of the company and has more than 25 years of experience in

the newspaper industry.

Mrs. Bhartia is a graduate from Calcutta University and is a recipient of the Padma Shri

Award by the Government of India in 2005. Mrs. Bhartia has received several other

awards, including the Outstanding Business Woman of the Year (2001) by PHD Chamber

of Commerce & Industry, the Global Leader for Tomorrow (1996) by the World

Economic Forum, Davos and the National Press India Award (1992). She has been on the

board of Indian Airlines Limited and on the North Regional Board of the Reserve Bank of

India.


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Venky VenkateshBusiness Head Circulation and SEAL

Venky joined HT Media Ltd in March 2007. Earlier he was General Manager at Hindustan

Unilever Ltd, heading the Sales and Customer Management function for Northern Region.

He has 26 year long experience in HUL where he worked in Sales and Marketing

functions. Venky has rich expertise in Sales that includes distribution, logistics and vendor

management. He has held a string of key senior leadership roles in HULs Southern and

Northern Markets. Venky has done his post graduate program in General Management

from IIM-Ahmedabad.

Sukumar Ranganathan

Editor, Mint

R Sukumar, part of the founding team of Mint joined HT Media in October 2006 from The

India Today Group where he was then Managing Editor of Business Today. He started his

career at The Hindu Business Line where he became the Marketing Editor. He then spent a

little over nine years at Business Today, where he was an Associate Editor and later the

Managing Editor, with both strategic and operational leadership of Indias leading

business magazine. Sukumar has a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering and Masters

Degree in Mathematics and Business Administration.


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1.9 - PRODUCTS OF HINDUSTAN TIMES


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CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 - BRAND AWARENESS

Brand awareness is a marketing concept that enables marketers to quantify levels and

trends in consumer knowledge and awareness of a brand's existence. At the aggregate

(brand) level, it refers to the proportion of consumers who know of the brand.

Brand awareness studies are most useful when the results are set against a clear

benchmark such as data from prior periods, different markets, or competitors. In a survey

of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 61 percent responded that they found the "brand

awareness" metric very useful

2.1.1 - BRAND ELEMENTS

Brand elements are those trademarkable devices that serve to identify and differentiate the

brand.

Brand elements can be chosen to build as much brand equity as possible. The test of the

brand-building ability of these elements is what consumers would think or feel about the

product if they only knew about the brand element.

A brand element that provides a positive contribution to brand equity would be one where

consumers assumed or inferred certain valued associations or responses.


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BRAND ELEMENT CHOICE CRITERIA

1. memorable

2. meaningful

3. likeability

4. transferable

5. adaptable

2.2 - PERCEPTION

Perception is one of the oldest fields in psychology. The oldest quantitative law in

psychology is the Weber-Fechner law, which quantifies the relationship between the

intensity of physical stimuli and their perceptual effects. The study of perception gave rise

to the Gestalt school of psychology, with its emphasis on holistic approach.

What one perceives is a result of interplays between past experiences, including ones

culture, and the interpretation of the perceived. If the percept does not have support in any

of these perceptual bases it is unlikely to rise above perceptual threshold.


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CHAPTER 3 - DETAILS ABOUT MINT

3.1 - BIRTH

MINT is a business newspaper from HT Media Ltd, launched in collaboration with The

Wall Street Journal on 1 February 2007. It is a premium business news publication aimed

at decision makers and policy makers of the country and it is the first newspaper in India

to be published in the Berliner format. The current Editor of the newspaper is R. Sukumar.

The design of the Mint newspaper is geared towards presenting business and financial

information in a compact format. The format itself was designed by Mario R. Garcia, who

has also been associated with the re-design of the Wall Street Journal.

Along with the print edition, Mint also has specialized online and mobile editions which

can be accessed at "www.livemint.com". Livemint.com is among the fastest growing news

websites in India and it attracts more than 2.16 million readers every month, majority of

who are decision makers in leading business organizations across the world. It is widely

considered to be the most comprehensive and technically evolved news portal in the

country that has introduced many multimedia enabled engagement platforms which give

its readers the opportunity to express their point of view and interact with Mint's editors

and columnists.

The weekend edition of the publication is called "Lounge" and it features columns on

travel, fashion, arts, personal technology, parenting, and health.


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Readership of MINT:

MINT is Indias second largest and fastest growing newspaper having very fast growth in

past 3 years. It has a readership over a quarter million. Its readership profile encompasses

the brightest and the best from Indias business and finance communities, Readers come

from varied occupations in the field of business, finance, government, policy makers and

academics, stock brokers, decision makers, researchers and students and observers of the

Indian Economy.

Departments:

The main departments of the MINT are Market Development Department an also known

as Circulation Department, Scheduling Department, Space Marketing Department,

Editorial Department, Systems Department, Production Department and the Dispatch

Department.

Attraction:

Rich and lovely supplements with vibrant sections on personal finance, banking, careers

and technology, travel, books and review of arts and cultures are the major attractive

sections. It is the most reliable and affordable business newspaper available in Gujarat at

Rs. 3/- on weekdays and Rs. 5/- for the weekend edition.

Economies of publication house:

A newspaper cost is Rs. 18-20 to the publication house at MINT. The cost is covered from

the advertisements that they receive, which is the work of space marketing department i.e.

collecting advertisements and fill the dailies. Companies give ads in only those

newspapers in which their audience rests and it also depends on the circulation of

readership figure. Therefore to attract cash rich advertisers, publication house has to first

create that class of audience, then only, they are in position to attract advertisers, which is

the main source of the revenue for MINT.


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Positioning Statement of MINT Refreshing clarity in Business

To succeed in a futurist environment, one requires a strategy. This is true for an

organization profit and non-profit as much as it is for an individual. The art of action

planning to achieve a specific goal is called strategizing and the action plan is called

strategy.

To manage the distribution channel properly, the market development department has to

perform well. The department has to take care of the necessary steps required to tap the

opportunities prevailing in the market.

3.2 - HIGHLIGHTS

2nd business daily nationally

2.51 million readers daily

15.2% growth every quarter making it fastest growing business daily

Dominant share in key markets

27% readership share in key markets of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore,

Calcutta, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad

Best in class reader profile

75 % of readers belong to SEC A. Higher than all other business papers

Business Standard and Hindu Business Line are way behind @ 30% and

31% respectively

Large Unduplicated Reach

84% of Mint readers do not read another Business Daily


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3.3 - PERFORMANCE

AIR ('000s)

Delhi

NCR

+ UA

Mumbai

+ UA

Bangalore

+ UA

Kolkata +

UAD+M+B+K Share

The Economic

Times221 176 23 75 495 62%

Mint 154 32 20 10 216 27%

Business

Standard21 17 6 10 54 7%

Hindu

Business Line15 4 10 7 36 4%

Mint readership is more than double that of the next 2 players combined

Mint has a 27% readership share in key markets

Strong at an All India level as well

Almost 50% bigger than BS

Further upside expected in next IRS rounds

More than half the readers of BS and HBL come from smaller cities and towns


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3.4 - PRODUCT PORTFOLIO

About MINT Newspaper (Ahmedabad Publication)

A newspaper which is published from MONDAY to SATDAY.

Price at the weekdays is Rs. 3/- and on Saturday is Rs. 5/-

Supplements with newspaper:

Monday - Friday : MINT MONEY

Saturday : LOUNGE

Six full pages on stock details both in Graphical and alphabetical

method

4 pages on Stock Market listing

Formulae specifications.

Mutual Fund details on full page coverage

Insurance schemes on half page


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Collaboration with the international newspaper THE WALL STREET

JOURNAL the U.S.

6 distribution centers in Ahmedabad

Nehrunagar

Paldi

Income Tax

Khanpur

Kalupur

Maninagar

Provides magazines free weeklly.

LOUNGE

Provides magazine free monthly

MINT MONEY GUIDE

Editions from Monday to Friday have a main edition of about page with colored

pages in front and the rest are in black and white. The following areas are focused:


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National and International news

Economy and Policy news

Infrastructure news

Companies news

Editorial pages

Crossword

Education News

Business law

Govt. policies & Regulations

Section II is the MONEY AND MARKETS

Stock market news

Money and currencies

Metal and intermediates news

Commodity news

Share prices in alphabetical order

Mutual fund and Insurance


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ABOUT THE SUPPLIMENTS

TUESDAY - SATURDAY: MINT MONEY

Past weeks analysis of stock markets

Primary markets

Secondary markets

Future tip for trading in shares

Issues related to stock market

Theories and practices of business management.

Brand related news

SATURDAY : LOUNGE

Life and fashion

Living

Entertainment

Motoring

Sports

LOUNGE


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3.5 - SWOT ANALYIS OF MINT

Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat

Systematic approach

covering all sectors.

Lack of brand

awareness

Can give an extra page

on Ahmedabad related

news

New market entrants

Nominal price We cover only large

and mid cap entities

Can introduce a new

segment on Sunday

Low Pricing Strategy

Separate Money &

Market section with 4

pages

No own printing press

in the city

Potential Market

Availability

Toughest Competition

From The Economic

Times

Exclusive partnership

with The Wall Street

Journal

Tie-up with CNBC TV

18

Lack of staff Can have tie-ups with

renowned brands for

ads.

Over view of the whole

week is given in

weekend

Provide general

awareness in terms of

investment.


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3.6 - COMPARISION WITH COMPETITIORS


Parameter Mint Business

Standard

The Economic Times Business line Financial

Express

1 Price Weekdays 3 Rs.

Weekend -5 Rs.

Weekdays-3 rs

Weekend-6 rs.

Weekdays-3.5 Rs.

Saturday 8 Rs.

Sunday 10 Rs.

Weekdays

4 Rs.

Weekend -3

Rs

Mon to

Fri 4

Rs.

Sat- 6 Rs.Sun-8 Rs.

2 Owner K. K. Birla Group Kotak Mahindra

Group

Bennett Coleman &

Co. ltd.

Kasturi &

Sons Ltd

Indian

Express

group

3 Stock

market

analysis

Four pages BS 200, 8 full

page of share

details

Six pages Six Pages Six pages

4 News Business + General Only Business Business + General Business +General

Business

5 Publisher HT media Ltd Business

Standard Ltd

The Times Group The Hindu

group

Indian

Express

group

6 Pages

(Avg.)

28-32 24-28 20-22 20-24 18-20

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Sr.

No

.

Parameter Mint Business

Standard

The Economic Times Business line Financial

Express

7 Updates NO No Week update on

Sunday

No No

8 Language Easiest Easiest Moderate Hard Moderate

9 No. of

location of

Publication

8 cities 12 cities 11 cities 14 cities 10 cities

10 Position in

the Market

2nd 3rd 1st 5th 4th

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3.7 - DEPARTMENT DETAILS

A brief department detail to give an idea of where the things are placed in MINT is as

follows:


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DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS

3.7.1 MARKET DEVELOPMENT / CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT

This department is responsible for the circulation of the newspaper in the whole region.

This department also looks after the daily back room operations which include giving print

orders for the regular supply of subscription, complementary copies and sponsored copies

are also being distributed by this department. They also check the dispatch and payment

received for the month. And also looks forward to expand the market of the newspaper by

adding more customers to its list. They are the people who not only think about selling the

newspaper but also how to promote it.

3.7.2 SPACE MARKETING DEPARTMENT

It is the major source of revenue generation for any media industry. Because the actual

cost of the newspaper goes up to 18/- to 20/- Rs. And sold at Rs. 3/-.So the advertisements

are the medium to compensate for the cost generated. I was taught about the marketing

department contact different corporate for advertisement and the channel through which

the advertisement comes and are prepared and how the space is allotted depending upon

the space given by the editorial department. There is an agent in between the client and the

publisher, which helps in making the arrangements of ads.

How this media get advertisement from clients?

Actually this media have their agents who collect contract from the clients and then these

agents decide what the expectation of client is; and on that bases agent selects any media.

Advertisement is generally designed by agent but only circulated by media. But

sometimes media also design some advertisement, but they get client from only agents.


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3.7.3 EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

Editorial department is considered as the backbone of the print media because without any

good matter to publish and which is not edited nicely it is just a crap for the readers.

Readers want to have the columns with good matter, so without having an effective and

efficient editorial team no newspaper can grow. This department collects the news mainly

from the News Agencies and they have their own network to publish the articles too. The

news can be by telephone, fax or through internet or other communication medium. This

news is edited and then sends to Mumbai and Delhi for the adjustment.

3.7.4 SCHEDULING DEPARTMENT

This department deals with the scheduling of the edited matter and the advertisements. It

is the work of this department to adjust and frame the edited matter with the

advertisement, by allotting the empty space to advertise, which matter and advertisement

should be in which page is the looked out by scheduling people.

3.7.5 PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT

After receiving the facsimile copy on the butter paper from the systems department, the

work of production department starts. This butter copy is framed on the aluminum plate.

This plate is then fixed in the printing machine and then as per the printing orders the

printing starts.

Machine which is used for the production is known as Film Processor which costs

approximately Rs. 2.5 lakh. The machine is divided into four different units i.e. Developer

Unit, Fixed Unit, Wash Unit, and Dryer Unit. Production Department is used mainly four

colors for the hard copy, which are Black, Yellow, Cyan and magenta, orange manly.

Some colors are used at the time of the final printing of the newspaper at press. Raw

material for this department is paper and aluminum plate. Print comes in the form of reel.

3.7.6 FINANCIAL DEPARTMENT

This department is responsible for all the financial matters. Matters are related to

employees salary, operational expenses and other sundry expenses. It is also responsible

for the reducing the cost of the publication.


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3.7.7 HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT

This is the department responsible for the HR supply in the company. For MINT, this

department is not in Ahmedabad, but it is in New Delhi. It means that the MINT has a

centrally located HR department who takes care of the supply in any of the branch.

All these departments identify the need of the customer i.e. the quality and pricing

demanded by the customers. In this industry this strategy is very important as the selling

price of the newspaper is always less than its cost of production. The main reason for this

type of pricing is to create awareness and generate reading behavior amongst the audience

of the newspaper.

3.7.8 SALES

A sale is a transaction, dealing, trade or what? Sale can have different meanings but

what is the most important thing in it, is to understand the importance of it. Without sale

no revenue can be generated but just earning revenue is not to sale, it is the right type

selling to the right customer with the right attitude. Customer relationship is most

important, maintaining the brand image is also important. Delivering on the brand

promises becomes a moment of truth in any customer relationship.

This moment of truth can be either positive or with negative impact on the customers

perception about your brand. There might be great marketing communication and a highly

superior product, but the buying experience always stands between the seller and the

customer. If the customer has a negative impact about the product then it is a direct

deterioration of the brand equity.

MINT is the product where the maximum demand would be in the early morning. It is

highly perishable product. The product should reach the customer in due time otherwise

the importance is lost. Hence time management is something very vital for the sales and

distribution people.


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MINT gets involved in many kinds of sale activity. They are:

Subscription Sales :

Monthly or annually by subscription by paying fixed amount is sale by subscription

Cash Sales:

Customers when paying the amount to purchase a newspaper directly to the book stall in

cash then the sale is said to be a cash sales.


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DISTRIBUTION

Distribution is exactly for maintaining the brand equity in the market. The promises which

were made to the customers can be fulfilled by the proper channel and the right time

delivery of the newspaper


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3.8 HIERARCHY OF MINT IN GUJARAT


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CHAPTER 4 - RESEARCH DESIGN

4.1 - RESEARCH DESIGN

A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research

project. It specifies the details of the procedures necessary for obtaining the information

needed to structure and/or solve marketing research problem.

On the basis of fundamental objectives of the research we can classify research design into

two general types:

1) EXPLORATORY RESEARCH

Exploratory research is one type of research design, which has its primary

objective the provision of insights into, and comprehension of, the problem

situation confronting the researcher.

2) CONCLUSIVE RESEARCH

Conclusive research is designed to assist the decision maker in determining

evaluating and selecting the best course of action to take in a given situation.

Conclusive research can be further divided into two types:-

Descriptive

Experimental


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4.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1. Define the problem and the research objectives:

Clarity on the following helps define the problem appropriately:o What is to be researched (the content, the scope)?

o Why is it to be researched (the decisions that are to be made)?

The objectives of the study are as follows:

To measure the brand awareness and perception of people of

Ahmedabad towards Mint Newspaper

To increase the market share of MINT by providing sales

promotion schemes

To make aware about MINT to the new (potential) customers in

the market

The purpose of research is to generate meaningful information, which will help in taking

objectives.

2. Develop the research plan:

The second stage of marketing requires developing the most efficient plan for gathering

the required information. This involves decisions on the data sources, research

approaches, research instruments, sampling plan, and contact methods.

(a) Data Sources:

Data were collected from primary as well as secondary sources. Investigation was started

by examining secondary data.

Primary Sources:Primary data are freshly gathered data for a specific purpose or

for a specific research project. Here the primary data were collected for a specific research

project. Response was taken from the respondents through personal survey.


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Secondary Sources:Secondary data are that were collected for another purpose,

and already exist somewhere. The secondary data were obtained from:

(i) Information from the websites

(ii) Textbooks on: Business Research Method,

Marketing Management by Philip Kotler

Organisational Behavior, etc.

(b) Research approach:

Primary data can be collected in five ways: through observation, focus groups surveys,

behavioral data, and experiments. Here the primary data were collected by survey method.

Survey: Surveys are best suited for descriptive research. Survey approach was

chosen to learn about brand awareness and peoples perception towards MINT. Survey

method required development of a survey instrument, a questionnaire, which the

respondents were asked to fill up. Primary data were collected through survey.

(c) Research Instrument:

To collect primary data, instruments like questionnaires, qualitative measures, and

technological devices are used. Here questionnaires are as a means to collect primary data.

Questionnaires: - A questionnaire consists of questions presented to respondents.

Because of its flexibility, it is by far the most common instrument used to collect primary

data. The questionnaires were carefully developed, tested, and debugged before

administering them on a large scale. The form, wording, and sequence of the question can

all influence the response. The questionnaire included closed-end questions. Closed-end

questions specify all the possible answers and provide answers that are easier to interpret

and tabulate. Here the main aim was to measure how many people think a certain way. It

contained 16 questions.


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The language of the questions was very easy to understand. Sophisticated or uncommon

words were not used. Only words in common speech were used. Ambiguous words such

as usually or frequently were avoided as they have no specific meaning. Questions

with negative in them were avoided. The questions were made as simple as possible. To

avoid confusion no question included multiple ideas or two questions in one. Personal

details like name, age, gender, occupation, monthly income and education were asked.

(d) Sampling Plan:

After deciding on the research approach and instruments, the sampling plan was designed.

This called for three decisions:

Sampling Unit: Who should be surveyed? The sampling unit included (A)

Service persons (B) Investors and Stock brokers (C) Businessmen (D) Bankers (E)

Management students and professors (F) Chartered Accountants & other Professionals

Sample Size: How many people should be surveyed? Large samples give more

reliable results, but its not necessary to sample the entire target population to achieve

reliable results. So 100 people were targeted to be surveyed from the entire population.

Sampling Procedure: How should the respondents be chosen? Nonprobability

samples were selected. In that Convenience sample was selected in which the most

accessible population members were selected for getting response.

Type of Research:Descriptive.

(e) Contact Method:

Now it was decided how to contact the subjects. There are mainly four contact methods.

But here in person contact method was chosen for getting responses.

Personal Interview: Personal interviewing is the most versatile method. More

questions could be asked and recording of additional observations about the respondent

were recorded. In-home survey was done to get response from friends, relatives and

Neighbors.


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3. Collect the Information:

This stage included collecting questionnaires from the respondents. The data

collection phase of marketing research is generally the most prone to error as some

respondents could give answers which were biased or dishonest because of unknown

reasons. Some respondents refused to cooperate.

4. Analyse the information:

The next step in the process was to extract findings by tabulating the data and

developing frequency distributions. Statistical techniques like average, percentage were

used to analyse the information.

5. Present the findings:

The findings were presented in graphical manner with the outcomes by using

graphs, charts, tables, etc. Interpretation was done after presenting them in a graphical

manner. Conclusions were drawn on the basis of the findings. Research findings are

presented in as understandable and compelling a fashion as possible.

6. Recommendations and Suggestions:

Recommendations and Suggestions were given on the basis of the research

findings.


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CHAPTER 5 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

5.1. Which Financial Newspaper do you read?

1. Which Financial Newspaper do you read?

Financial Express 42

Economic Times 51

Business Standard 32

Business Line 21

MINT 4


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Interpretation:

The preference of newsreaders is more towards Economic Times than others i.e., 51% and

respectively the acceptance of Financial Express is of 42%, after that comes Business

Standard which is having the share of 32% of the total readers, then comes the Business

Line with a total of 21% of the market capture, where Mint comprises of 25% of total

readership base out of the customers which I have surveyed.

According to the market survey we can get that in a state like Gujarat which is the

business hub of the nation consisting a huge crowd of readers going for business related

stuff. The place shows a great potential for the acceptance of the business daily due to the

business atmosphere given to family from the very beginning.


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5.2. Which Thing do you look into while purchasing Financial

Newspaper?

2. Which thing do you look into whilepurchasing Financial Newspaper?

Price 26

Content 55

Quality 37

Language 32


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Interpretation:

As I have done the survey of people they mostly focus on language as there are many

complex words and jargons so to understand those in financial paper it is very difficult. As

the class-A people who are C.A., Lawyer, Doctors, and Brokers they can read English

easily so they more focus on the content of the newspaper. And the people who find the

content good they can also satisfied with the quality of the paper and also they will not

look into the price factor whether it is high or low.


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5.3. What kind of Supplement you want from Business daily?

3. What kind of Supplement you want from

Business daily?Educational 10

Employment News 12

Portfolio Management 45

Industrial 10

Sports 18

Social 5


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Interpretation:

The intention behind this question was to know that what kind of extra supplement the

readers would like to have apart from main copy. We found out that the supplement for

portfolio management was preferred by 45% of the people surveyed. The supplement

covering Sports news was preferred by 1% of the people. The news regarding

Employment was ranked 3rd as far as the consumer preferences were concerned with

12%. The Educational news and Industrial news both were asked for by the 10% each of

the people. Also, 5% people were interested in having supplement for issues related to

Social.


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5.4. Are you satisfied with the stock market and mutual fund portfolio

provided by our financial daily?

4. Are you satisfied with the stock market and mutual fundportfolio provided by our financial daily?

Satisfied 48

Moderate 23

Not Satisfied 29


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Interpretation:

From this graph we can get that in the present scenario, the kind of business dailies that

are present in the market out of 100, 48% people are satisfied and 23% people responded

that they are satisfied in a moderate way and still there are around 29% people who are not

satisfied with the current pattern of the newspaper they are getting.

There is still a market of around 52% to be tapped as it consist of those who are not

bothered and those who are not satisfied with the present scenario of the business dailies

in the state.


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5.5. Do you find MINT more convenient than other Newspapers in

reading?

5. Do you find MINT more convenient than otherNewspapers in reading?

Yes 80

No 20


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Interpretation:

As I have surveyed 100 customers they like MINT because it is of Berliner format which

is a unique size and has a tie up with wall street journal which is Americas number 1

selling and most reputed newspaper. Mint is not only providing financial news but also

general news every Monday and Saturday plus global news daily except Sunday. The

color or the background is white and clearly visible so it is easy to read and they are

providing easier language than any other newspaper so the people find mint more

convenient than other newspapers.


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5.6. When do you read MINT newspaper?

6. When do you read MINT

newspaper?Daily 65

Once in a Week 10

Weekend 15

Occasionally 8

Never 2


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Interpretation:

As there are many newsreaders who like MINT very much so they read MINT daily so

maximum % are around 65, Some newsreaders are such that they only free on weekends

or they just look through once when get time so there % are nearer to 25 %, and some

subscribers have subscribed MINT as prices are cheap compare to other newspaper but

they dont read at all. There are many readers who just read MINT once in a week or in

weekend as company is providing supplement on weekend so we can make them read by

providing supplements on weekdays also.


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5.7. Are you satisfied with the language of MINT?

7. Are you satisfied with the language of MINT?

Yes 90

No 10


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Interpretation:

In the survey we found out those customers who were students, they try to subscribe

English newspaper because they want to improve their English speaking skills, and

compare to other financial newspapers the language of MINT is easiest so there 90%

people who find Mints language easy while other 10% people are satisfied with other

newspaper as they are reading that newspapers for many years.


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5.8. Do you find content of MINT more preferable than other

newspapers?

8. Do you find content of MINT more preferable thanother newspapers?

Yes 96

No 4


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Interpretation:

In todays era people are so busy that they have no time to read detail news, so the content

provided by newspapers should be in short and sweet that any person can easily

understand, and as Mint is providing the information more graphically rather than theory

detail. So as they are satisfied with the graphical information and so the ratio is more in

content reading. The people who like to read long news and dont understand graphs are

very few.


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5.9. Do you find price of our newspaper convenient?

9. Do you find price of our newspaper

convenient?Yes 76

No 24


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Interpretation:

The more customers are satisfied with the price as company has run campaign for annual

subscription in just Rs.499 means the daily cost of 3Rs. Paper will cost to customers in

just 1.33Rs. . Those customers who are not satisfied the reason behind it is the company

had charged Rs.399 when MINT was launched but as the MINT has completed 1 year it is

charging 100 Rs. more For annual subscription.


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5.10. If No, Then what price do you expect?

10. If No, Then what price do you expect?Rs. 2 68

Rs. 3 24

Above Rs. 3 8

Interpretation:

From the survey we found that the customers who dont want to subscribe annually as

they read that newspaper occasionally so they expect price of newspaper between 2 to 2.5,

and those customers who find MINT as a very good newspaper they are even ready togive more that issue price.


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5.11. What do you expect at the time of subscription?

11. What do you expect at the time of

subscription?Discount 65

Gift 20

Lucky Draw Coupon 15

Interpretation:

As there are many readers who read more than 2 newspapers so they will subscribe to our

newspaper if the prices of our newspaper are relatively cheaper than other newspapers so

65% of the total customers are interested in discount. There were total of 35% of the

customers who are satisfied with the price but want some extra that is gifts and lucky draw

coupons.


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Interpretation:

From the survey we have found that more than 81% of total customers which we have

studied were satisfied as the content of the newspaper is easy to understand and

convenient. As there are more graphical information is given so the customers can easily

understand it without reading in detail. Other 19% of customers are reading other

newspapers for many years so they are satisfied with them.


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5.13. How much time do you spend to read the MINT newspaper?

13. How much time do you spend to

read the MINT newspaper?Upto 15 Minutes 52

16 to 30 Minutes 33

31 to 45 Minutes 10

More than 45 Minutes 5

Never 2


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Interpretation:

From the survey we have found that the people who have subscribed to MINT are from

Sec-A as they are doctors, professors, CA, Broker, etc. So as they are very busy so spend

less time for reading their newspaper that around between 15 to 30 minutes. The

customers who want to improve their English skills they try to read for more than 30

minutes or more than 45 minutes.


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5.14. If the price of the MINT newspaper is going to increase than what

you will do?

14. If the price of the MINT newspaper isgoing to increase than what you will do?

Stop Subscription 20

Continue With the Same Paper 68

Skip the Substitute 12


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Interpretation:

In the survey we found that the more positive response about the MINT has come. MINT

is providing best supplements and also the good content with Berliner size of newspaper

which is easy to carry. So there are 68% of total customers are there who will not switch

to other company even if price rise. There are 12% customers who will switch to other

substitute and 20% customers who are not reading any English newspapers will stop

subscribing.


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5.15. What reason you consider while subscribing to MINT?

15. What reason you consider while

subscribing to MINT?Brand Value 35

Information 22

Price 30

Supplements 4

Gifts & Discount Coupons 9


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Interpretation:

As MINT has recently launched in Ahmedabad so few people are aware of it so the brand

name is not so much popular. But the customers who have subscribed to MINT they are

satisfied with the content and information provided in newspaper so 35% customers are

subscribing mint because of content. 30% are subscribing MINT as it is providing good

supplements that are magazines, Mint money, Brunch. 22% are conscious about price of

the product as they are reading many newspapers so they first compare the prices of MINT

with other newspapers.


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5.16. What is the overall impression do you feel for MINT?

16. What is the overall impression do

you feel for MINT?Good 89

Medium 4

Bad 7

Interpretation:

MINT is collaborated with wall street journal which is U.S.s number 1 selling newspaper

and one of the most reputed newspapers in the world. MINT is providing international

news also, so who are regularly reading MINT believe mint as a reputed newspaper so

around 90% impression is good about MINT in consumers mind. Those customers who

find other newspapers convenient will not chose MINT. And the rest who dont know

anything about MINT are around 7%.


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CHAPTER 6 - FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

6.1 - FINDINGS

I came to know about the preference of the customers after doing the activity of

market tapping.

People have different needs and wants, so one should be able to understand their

needs and wants in order to sell the product.

Most of the readers agree that the language used in MINT is simple for them.

The supplements of MINT are fairly popular amongst target audience which is

good for the brand.

News covered by the newspaper i.e. the coverage plays an important role. Readers

feel that the lack of news coverage may lead them to change the newspaper they

read. Some of vernacular readers have switched to English daily only because of

their need to improve their English but the percentage is negligible.

News channels and Internet media has affected the reading pattern of the readers

up to a considerable extent.

The basic idea of reading a newspaper is to gain information and knowledge;

hence the news coverage is a dominating factor in newspaper purchase as well as

reading.

Due to increase in the usage of Internet, people prefer to do surfing on the net and

thereby collect more information on the different aspects simultaneously.

Lack of airline industry news as well as local NEWS also.

Agriculture industry news is not provided.

Service problem is the main problem with NEWSPAPER, because in our survey I

met so many people who did not get newspaper on daily basis in initial stages.

There is also one finding that font size of stock market related news is very small

so that they are not happy with it.

Some clients said that whatever hidden news shown by ET, other NEWS papers

that news are not covered by MINT.


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6.2 RECOMMENDATIONS

From the study carried out and the analysis of the result obtain from the survey, the

following suggestion and recommendation can help the firm to improve upon the product.

Add the news on IT and Information in much more detail

Increase the number of centers from where the newspaper is available

Add listing for Small script

Give more job related advertisements

Come up with new creative advertisements

Build proper positioning in the minds of the readers

Give certain small vouchers package at the time of Diwali or any other festivals.

Service check calls at regular intervals.

Make some events with corporate to spread awareness of MINT.

Collaborate with B-schools to provide copy of MINT daily at their home.

MINT should increase number of supplements.

MINT should allow only snippets to read free of cost and not the full articles.


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CHAPTER 7 LIMITATIONS

Though this study was taken up with sincere effort to accomplish the objectives, there

were certain factors that held back the satisfactory completion of the same.

The research was dependent on the information provided by the respondents. It

may be biased

The study was confined to Ahmedabad City only

Interaction with the respondents was limited due to their busy work

There were chances that respondents will make assumptions while filling the

questionnaire

100 people cannot give the picture of entire population living in Ahmedabad City


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CHAPTER 8 - LEARNING FROM THE PROJECT

My work at MINT was of hard core selling with a research on consumer behavior for the

two months. I personally went to many corporate offices and got subscriptions for the

company.

There were certain concepts which I had learnt during my academic year and were used in

the training period.

They were:

Relational purchasing :

Due to the loyal customer base HT has, the new product got many advantages;

like- Consumers are already aware about brand and quality of HT and its services.

The unbiased opinion and judgments the authors and analysts had put the

benchmark in quality standards and occupied the mindshare of customer. This

boosts the new product sale a lot.

And I have actually seen people buying the subscription due to their understanding

of brand.

Attractive Pricing :

HT had offered huge discount up to 60 % in the price of yearly subscription of

product and services, aimed at increasing the market share.

This special subscription rates attracted a huge amount of potential customers.

Sales penetration:

This is a calculation indicating how much of a particular market for a product or

service has been gained by the active sales.


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8.1 - STRATEGIES LEARNT AT THE FIRM

During this tenure of two months I had practically applied a lot of concepts learnt during

academic year for the marketing and promotion of MINT. Here are few concepts listed

below:

Customer retention

It is the retaining customer for a long term transaction and not for a mere one time

interaction. I learnt how important this customer retention is for any company as the cost

of making new customers is very high as compared to retaining old ones.

Viral marketing

The marketing of MINT through a network of agent, is it household or corporate

networking.

Referral marketing

Contacting references for the business enhancement

Referrals are very cost-effective

Guerrilla marketing

It is an unconventional way of performing promotional activities on a very low

budget. Such promotions are sometimes designed so that the target audience is left

unaware they have been marketed to and may therefore be a form of undercover

marketing. It is an unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from

minimal resources.


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8.2 - LEARNING OF FEW SOFT SKILLS

While undergoing summer training at MINT, with the above mentioned learning, I had

learned certain soft skills. These soft skills are as follows:

Communicating with people:

Through telephone

Through face to face

Cold Calling

Convincing them:

Convincing people to give an appointment and listen to the scheme

Convincing customers to buy the subscription

Language of Corporate World:

During my SIP I had learnt the language of corporate world. How they are

responding. How they are behaving. How they are talking, performing their operations,

their life style, and the way they are working.

Handling clashes with the superiors and with customers:

During the fulfillment of my summer training I had faced certain clashes with my

direct superior. This two months period taught me how to handle the situation. How to

solve the complaints and clarify the doubts of the customers

Handling pressures:


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CHAPTER 9 CONCLUSION

The market survey resulted into following conclusion:

As there are many strong competitors in the market like Economic times, Business

Standard, Financial Express. So to reduce the competition MINT must use aggressive

selling techniques. People are mostly satisfied with the product but they must give quality

services to those customers who are not satisfied and also do the sales promotion schemes

to increase the sales.

Mint is growing in the media market tremendously. The finance news provided by Mint is

convenient and easy to understand in language. It is now no. 2 in finance sector newspaper

because of its marketing techniques and better customer profiling. One can feel proud to

do internship in Mint. It is one best medium to improve our marketing skills of a person.


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QUESTIONNAIRE

PERSONAL INFORMATION

1. Name:

2. Age: (1) 18-27 (2) 28-37 (3) 38-47 (4) 48-57

(5) 58 or above

3. Occupation: (1) Service (2) Businessmen (3) Stock Brokers (4) Students

(5) Others

4. Gender: (1) Male (2) Female

5. Monthly Income:

(1) Nil-10000

(2) 10000-15000

(3) 15001-20000

(4) 20001-30000

(5) Above 30000

6. Education: (1) Under graduate (2) Graduate (3) Post graduate


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QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Which Financial Newspaper do you read? Financial Express

Economic Times Business Standard

Business Line

MINT

2. Which Thing do you look into while purchasing Financial Newspaper? Price

Content

Paper Quality

Language

3. What kind of Supplement you want from Business daily?

Educational

Employment News

Portfolio Management

Industrial

Sports

Social

4. Are you satisfied with the stock market and mutual fund portfolio providedby our financial daily?

Satisfied

Moderate Not Satisfied

5. Do you find MINT more convenient than other Newspapers in reading?

Yes

No

6. When do you read MINT newspaper? Daily

Once in a week

Weekend

Occasionally

Never


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7. Are you satisfied with the language of MINT?

Yes

No

8. Do you find content of MINT more preferable than other newspapers?

Yes

No

9. Do you find price of our newspaper convenient?

Yes

No

10. If No, Then what price do you expect?

2

2.5 Above 3

11. What do you expect at the time of subscription?

Discount

Gift

Lucky Draw Coupon

12. By what level you are satisfied with MINT newspaper reading?

Very much satisfied

Satisfied

Dissatisfied

Very much dissatisfied

Cant Say

13. How much time do you spend to read the MINT newspaper?

Up to 15 minutes

16 to 30 minutes

31 to 45 minutes

More than 45 minutes

14. If the price of the MINT newspaper is going to increase than what you willdo?

Stop subscription

Continue with the same newspaper

Skip to the substitute


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15. What reason you consider while subscribing to MINT?

Brand value

Information

Price

Supplements

Gifts & Discount Coupons

16. What is the overall impression do you feel for MINT?

Good

Medium

Bad

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pooja tanawala 48 intern at mint ahmedabad

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